Alton Jones Jr. hopes to add an Angler of the Year trophy to the Heavy Hitters belt he captured earlier this year.
July 28, 2023
By John Johnson Whatever the final points total ends up being for this year's MLF Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year (AOY), Alton Jones Jr. is closer to it than anyone else right now. Capturing the title would, of course, be a huge milestone for the 31-year-old Texan, but he won't fish like he has any type of advantage in next week's season finale at Saginaw Bay in Michigan.
"I don't feel like it's mine to lose," he said. "I'm going to have to have a stellar event to win it, there's no way around that, and that actually takes a lot of the pressure off.
"I have to be grateful for the opportunity. I don't see it as pressure; I see it as a chance to do something great. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about it a lot because it's an opportunity that doesn't come around all the time. Those guys right behind me are the best in the business and they have been for a long time, and I've got to respect that."
Indeed, the winner of the year's Heavy Hitters derby has got a couple of guys with well-populated trophy cases right behind him. Jones tops the standings with 391.5 points, with two-time defending AOY Jacob Wheeler, the No. 1 angler in the BassFan World Rankings, in second with 384.5. Ott DeFoe is 2 points behind Wheeler.
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Matt Becker is also part of the equation – he's just 1 point behind DeFoe. From there, it's a 36-point drop down to 5th-place Jordan Lee, so it's a near-certainty that one of the Top 4 will claim the crown and the $100,000 bonus from sponsor Bally Bet.
"Someone, if not multiple guys in the Top 4, will make the Top 10 in the tournament," Jones said, "so I'm not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. If I get there, I get there, and if not it's still been a great season. I'm going to trust the process and enjoy the opportunity."
Unlike many in the field, Jones has spent considerable time on Saginaw Bay, but that experience might be of little consequence this week. He was on the massive venue for 5 or 6 days several years ago, but fished only for largemouth as strong winds every day made going offshore for smallmouth a foolhardy endeavor.
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He was on the bay for about an hour last month before the Lake St. Clair tournament, but got a call informing him that his father, fellow BPT competitor Alton Jones, and mother Jimmye Sue had been involved in an serious auto accident on their way to that event, so he put his boat back on the trailer immediately and went to be with them. Fortunately, neither was seriously injured and the elder Jones competed that week from a borrowed boat.
"I didn't get much done and maybe it was meant to be that I didn't get to spend a lot of time out there," he said. "From being there before, I know the weather dicates everything. The wind moves the water and dirties it up and clears it and the fish tend to move a lot.
"I'd like to fish for smallmouth – unless it's a horrendous weather week it's going to be won on the brown ones, but guys are going to get burned on them, too. It's a high-risk, high-reward deal and you have to decide how much wind is too much and when to pull the plug and go fish for largemouth. You can't just go down the bank and catch smallmouth; you have to get out in the big water and it's an ocean out there.
"There'll be a lot of checks cashed on largemouth," he concluded, 'but if you can get on the smallmouth, the largemouth can't compete."
Notable
> With Heavy Hitters included, Jones has six finishes of 11th or better in eight outings this year.
> He's still adjusting to life as a father, as his son Jett just turned 3 months. "Every day is a learning experience," he said.
